Wonder what the future holds for this incredible country. The dominant country in global culture and science for the last two decades, it took one decade to double productivity per person. Agriculture and solid minerals were platforms but so was online provision for a population that was growing at an exponential rate.
It is one of those mornings when being awake is a reflection of God’s love. I watch the simmering light on the Lagoon on one side. It is great to see how much the Lagos Lagoon has become clearer and cleaner in the past two decades, with all the flow of fish visible to discerning observers. On the other side of this small island, the Atlantic Ocean blasts away to the wakefulness of the day. This island on the edge of Lagos has become sought after by us older people; a retirement home.
The years have passed to 2062, and this country Nigeria has become a nation that stands within the top 10 economies in the world. It has used the survival need to feed its people to transform agriculture; first, to produce food and inevitably for an industrial transformation that was thought not possible because of its epileptic electricity provision. In 2015, we had many efforts at providing electricity that did not work, with many days without electricity. The success of understanding the process and potential of the jatropha fruit has changed our ability to have constant electricity. Even though the population has nearly doubled, we started the process of disaggregating the generation, as well as distribution system in the 2020s fully. Major appliances are powered by the jatropha boosters, taking them fully off the electricity grid. Solar energy is also used for all illumination systems. Hospitals, factories, and schools are powered by hybrid microsystems. The result is a far lighter pressure on local electricity. Major power consumers like the airports and posts, and the railway systems have their own hybrid power managed exclusively. Cars are almost anachronistic, as people travel in pods that can move on water, in the ground, and on air, so long as you have credits for the Artificial Intelligence Concierge.
I must go soon, my great grand-daughter is at the doctors and my hologram projection will need to be fully activated for the check-up. Even though she is qualified to complete the check-up and has done so, the National Wellness Programme covers older people and younger under-five year olds for free. We must, however, be checked and certified yearly. The fact that we are all now aware of the alkaline existence, and its immense boost to our health has shifted everything. Nigeria no longer imports medicines, as we are now exporters of the many different cures that reside within our forests. The understanding of ancestral science, without the baggage of the spiritual dimension, has meant that we have one of the healthiest populations in the world. Our clinics are in every cluster as our society is organised through the fractal geometry that our ancestors used, rather than the grid that the Europeans embraced. It is what makes Lagos one of the safest 24-hour cities in the world.
It is not wealth that makes Nigeria such a successful nation but values. We are still the only country that is diverse without a dominant ethnic group. Like the Super Eagles who are going for the Fourth World Cup win next year. From the first title in 2018, it was clear that the authentic use of the diverse capacity united under a style of play that is uniquely Nigerian will be difficult to defend and in fact no opposition has been able to solve this craft and capacity.
I can hear the evening fast approaching as the pods stop humming and the voices of young people a distant din. My great grand-child confirms the doctor is happy and I hear the approaching footfalls of my wife. We are truly blessed to be Nigerians. Who knew that the words of the second stanza of the National Anthem, a nation where peace and justice can reign ‘will be literally true’?
Our athleticism combined with the flow of polyrhythmic tonal awareness coordinates pace, timing and execution almost like the best Fela compositions. It is exactly like Ginga facilitated the Brazillian World domination in football. Like those in my childhood, remember Pele and Zagalo, even Neymar in my middle age, we now know that when Alex Nwobi scored the goal giving Nigeria the first FIFA World Cup in 2018, a new era began.
A twenty-four hour Lagos without the crazy rush hour opened up the capacity and requirements for a more organised online city. The completion of the subway took cars off the road. The Lekki Airport reduced the original madness of the air travel. One of the most profound changes occurred between 2017 and 2020 when state capture stopped. Only the creative and productive are rewarded. In fact, each person’s hologram reveals the established content of their character. The Yoruba adage ‘Efin niwa’ (character is like smoke) is now virtually true. Your track record is captured by your hologram. Of course, people can be bad and in fact, capture or sometimes fake others characters, but now only productivity, creativity, and the authenticity is rewarded. Our ethnicity no longer divide us as it did even though there are those under the guise of historic societies and authenticity that try to drive a wedge amongst the people. However, the Nigerian women solidarity movement totally change the system of divide of conquer. It was their fight against patriarchy in the 2020s that totally put a stop to blatant ethnic chauvinism too. We have had as many women presidents as men in the last thirty years.
Wonder what the future holds for this incredible country. The dominant country in global culture and science for the last two decades, it took one decade to double productivity per person. Agriculture and solid minerals were platforms but so was online provision for a population that was growing at an exponential rate.
I can hear the evening fast approaching as the pods stop humming and the voices of young people a distant din. My great grand-child confirms the doctor is happy and I hear the approaching footfalls of my wife. We are truly blessed to be Nigerians. Who knew that the words of the second stanza of the National Anthem, a nation where peace and justice can reign ‘will be literally true’?
Adewale Ajadi, a lawyer, creative consultant and leadership expert, is author of Omoluwabi 2.0: A Code of Transformation in 21st Century Nigeria.
PremiumTimes
END
Be the first to comment